# Introduction to distributions To start collecting responses via SMS or email, you need to set up a Distribution. This is where you decide your delivery strategy—like sending a one-time blast or setting up an automatic trigger after a purchase—and choose how much respondent information you want to track. ### Distribution Types The distribution type determines the logic behind how and when your SMS or email invitations are sent out. * **One-time Delivery:** Best for standard research projects where you have a fixed list of contacts and want to send the survey to everyone at once or in a single scheduled batch. * **Ongoing/Periodic Survey:** Ideal for "always-on" feedback loops, such as employee pulse checks or long-term customer satisfaction tracking. This allows you to automatically sample a portion of your audience (e.g., 10%) over a set period (e.g., every quarter). * **Event-Based Survey:** Designed for high-relevance feedback. The survey is triggered by a specific action—like a customer completing a purchase—and sent after a predefined delay to capture their thoughts while the experience is still fresh.
### Anonymity Levels The anonymity level defines the relationship between the respondent's identity and their data. This is a critical choice for building trust with your audience. * **Fully Anonymous Survey:** Use this when total privacy is the priority. You will not be able to see who opened the link or which individual provided which answer. This is often used for sensitive internal feedback where respondents need to feel safe being completely honest. * **Anonymous Survey with Response Status Tracking:** This is the "middle ground." It allows you to see a list of who has and hasn't completed the survey—which is perfect for sending targeted reminders to those who forgot—but the actual answers remain disconnected from their names. * **Full Tracking:** This provides the most data-rich results. Every response is linked to a specific contact, allowing you to follow up on specific complaints, reward loyal customers, or perform detailed demographic analysis.
{% hint style="info" %} Once a distribution begins collecting data, the Anonymity Level is locked. This protects the integrity of the promise made to your respondents regarding their privacy. {% endhint %} --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.pristo.io/distributions/introduction-to-distributions.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.